From Palestine, to racism, to fiscal rules and migrant rights, DIANE ABBOTT surveys some of the main themes of Labour conference this week

ISRAELI arms firm Elbit is building its business in Britain by taking top military officials for “informal suppers” and “discreet and private” dinners.
Elbit is a relatively new arms supplier in Britain. Its dinner-with-Elbit approach is very similar to the hospitality offered to officials by the more established arms firms. As a “transparency” measure, government departments list all “hospitality” given to their “senior officials.”
For the MoD, these lists cover everyone who is above the rank of “two star” meaning Major Generals or their equivalents and above. No other department records as many dinners with suppliers as the MoD.

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES